New TTB Ruling: Brewers Don’t Need Certificate of Label Approval for Beer Sold or Shipped in the State Where It Was Bottled

Some fun news during CBC. The first Malt Beverages Ruling of 2013, TTB Ruling 2013-1, is an
interesting one. The actual holding is
excerpted verbatim for you below. Beer
made and sold in the same state doesn’t require certificate of label approval. The other required labeling information for
beer removed from the premises, (25
CFR part 27, subpart J), and the health warnings of the Alcoholic Beverage
Labeling Act obviously still apply – although the TTB made certain to
remind everyone of that fact:

Held: The
regulations implementing the FAA Act do not require brewers to obtain a certificate
of label approval in order to bottle or pack malt beverages that will not be shipped
or delivered for sale or shipment into another State. The regulations do not require
a brewer to obtain either a certificate of label approval or a certificate of exemption
for a domestically bottled malt beverage that will be sold exclusively in the State
in which it was bottled.

Held
further: Regardless of
whether a domestically bottled malt beverage will be sold in interstate
commerce, brewers must comply with all applicable marking, branding and labeling
requirements under regulations implementing the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
for all beer removed from the premises, and must comply with the health warning
statement requirements imposed by the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act with
regard to alcoholic beverages manufactured or bottled for sale or distribution
in the United States.